Digital camera modules are used in a variety of consumer, industrial, and scientific imaging devices to produce still images and/or video. One such imaging device is a video endoscope, a medical diagnostic instrument used for imaging a ventricle within a patient. It includes a flexible shaft capable of being inserted into the patient through an orifice thereof. The shaft has a tip that includes a light source and a camera for respectively illuminating and capturing images of part of the patient, such as a body cavity or an organ. The endoscope has a field of view by virtue of the imaging lens and image sensor of its camera module. The camera module preferably has a wide field of view (FOV) and produce quality images while being sufficiently small to enable endoscope access to small ventricles of a patient.
Conventional compact wide-FOV camera modules are formed of molded glass. A disadvantage of such camera modules is their cost, as conventional processes of molding glass lenses is not compatible with high-volume production methods.